Treatment dropout at a secondary mental health service

objective: to investigate mental health dropout rates in secondary care and to identify possible associations between this variable and social, demographic, psychopathologic, and health care process-related variables. method: this prospective, observational study included 994 patients referred to a secondary service by four primary care units and evaluated by a specialist mental health team between 2004 and 2008. the dependent variable was treatment dropout. bivariate analyses investigated possible associations between treatment dropout and 57 independent variables. results: the overall dropout rate from specialist mental health treatment was relatively low (mean = 25.6%). only four independent variables were associated with dropout: one socioeconomic, two psychopathological, and one health care process variable. all associations were marginally significant (p < 0.1). conclusion: our findings suggest that family members, patients, and health care professionals are well engaged in this mental health care system based on a model of primary care. the use of this mental health model of care should be extended to other regions of our country.